The Venus by LG is Verizon Wireless’s latest music phone and is the successor to the Chocolate lineup. It is a slider, and moves beyond the heat sensitive buttons of 8500 series by adding a pressure-sensitive dynamic LCD display. The camera has been upgraded to 2.0 megapixels, but otherwise the features remain similar to the Chocolates. The Venus has a QVGA display, EV-DO data, microSD expansion and a heavy focus on music. Included in the box the user will find:

The Venus (aka 8800) has been completely redesigned, and while it
serves as the successor to the Chocolate phones the phones will never
be confused for one another. Where the 8500 series made its mark with
understated styling, the Venus comes at you with a mirrored display and
plenty of chrome trim to make sure the phone will be noticed.

Model

Dimension (Inches)

Dimension (mm)

Weight (oz)

Weight (Gramms)

Venus by LG

4.00" x 2.00" x 0.62"

102 x 51 x 15.7

3.79

107

LG Chocolate 8550

3.80" x 1.88" x 0.69"

98 x 47 x 17

3.24

92

Blackberry Pearl 8130

4.20" x 1.95" x 0.55"

107 x 50 x 14

3.4

96

Left and down - LG Venus, Right and up - BlackBerry Pearl 8130

The front of the Venus is dominated by the two displays, the top being a high-quality 2” QVGA display with 262k colors. Just below sits an equally clear 1.49” 240x176 touch sensitive display which also features 262k colors. Both are bright and crisp and can be seen easily in all lighting conditions. The very top and bottom of the front feature a small strip of faux black mesh, and serve to conceal the earpiece and microphone. Around the entire top half of the slider is a quarter inch chrome trim. As you might have guessed it is nearly impossible to keep the Venus fingerprint-free.

The slider offers resistance initially, but then springs into action when it is sure the user is intending to open the phone. Sliding the phone open reveals a 15 key dial pad, with Send, Clear and End sitting above the number pad. The added width over the Chocolate is a welcome move because it creates much needed space for the keys. Where the Chocolate was downright terrible to text on, it is a much more pleasant experience on the Venus. The keys alternate between a blue pearl and flat dark gray (it might be a flat blue, it is very hard to tell just what color they are) and the keys are connected horizontally, making for a very cool looking pattern.

The housing is a dark navy blue which, to be frank, does not match the rest of the phone. Along the left side you will find, from top to bottom, a lanyard hole, 2.5mm headset jack, volume rocker, voice command button and the charging port. The right side of the Venus has the microSD slot, as well as hard buttons for the music player and camera.

Left side

Right side

2MP camera

The rear of the Venus is black and constructed of ersatz leather. It is best compared to the pleather dashboard of a low end car trying to mask its cheapness. The rear is simple and uncluttered; the 2-megapixel camera sits at the top of the unit while there is a single speaker at the bottom right. On the top of the phone is a small button which releases the battery door.

How LG okayed this design is beyond us, and while the build quality is excellent the styling is reminiscent of a cheap Chinese knockoff. The black clashes with the blue plastic, and the Venus is a mismatch of three different zones; the mirrored and chromed slide, the blue plastic middle housing and the black fake leather back. There is a sharp contrast from the elegant designs of the Chocolate and Shine series when compared to the Venus. Another gripe of ours is that the slider is misaligned when closed, leaving just a slight overhand at the bottom and disrupting the continuity of the design. Just looking at the Venus the average user probably wouldn’t notice it, but when running your fingers over the area it is very obvious.

The build quality of the Venus is very good. When viewed head-on the mirrored and chromed finish give the Venus a touch of class. However, when looked at as a whole the Venus leaves much to be desired. The complete mismatch of colors is nothing short of a fashion faux pas, and the cheap material used on the back is too prevalent to ignore. LG’s Verizon devices are usually top notch in the styling department, but we feel they really missed the mark with the Venus.

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29 Comments

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1.freckles (unregistered)

I got the venus, and I have a few comments to make about this review.
First of all, I was able to change the sensitivity of the touch screen buttons, this review states there is no way to do that. Also, I did not find the touch screen slow.
Second, I was also able to create my own group in the contacts list. The group could only hold 10 contacts, however, it was my own group.
Third, while the blue color is a weird choice, I am assuming the blue parts are where the pink will be for the pink phone. It is a dark blue and is hardly noticable. I did notice the overhang of the slide, and that is rather annoying.
Overall, I am really enjoying my new Venus phone.

2.vzwemp (unregistered)

so.. you have a pink venus?? a phone that doesnt even launch till december? Thats amazing. Like to explain where you got this?
Anyways, I can think of one reason to chose a venus over a chocolate. the 8500/8550's are prone with problems. Id rather convince people of a new unknown phone than give them a phone that I know they will be mad at sooner or later.
Personally, I dont think its an awe enspiring phone, but anything is better than the current chocolate line.

3.VZWRep (unregistered)

I agree with the review completely. The phone is ugly (cheap faux leather, mismatched colors with gaudy amounts of chrome), they should have just used one large touch screen, so that you're not constantly trying to touch the non-touch screen, it's slow, and it's not at all revolutionary.
I disagree with #3, I'd rather sell an 8550, because the 8500 was the device with the most common problems, the 8550 has been much more problem free, and it has a much more reasonable interface than the 8800 and 8500, which are touch sensitive, but do not gain any actual benefit from that capability.
Finally, why buy a Venus when you can get a Voyager? $100 more and you get a HTML browser, a full keyboard, a full touch screen, and a much better, more attractive device.

4.Reviewer (unregistered)

Freckles...there are settings for the touch display, but none of them deal with the sensitivity. The only options are Feedback Sounds, Vibration Type, Vibration Level and Call/End Button. If I am missing something please point me in the right direction, but nowhere in the menus is there an actual touch sensitivity levels like you find on the Chocolate.

7.jON (unregistered)

I have to disagree and actually I like the look of it. I have to say that there are far better options for your money, though. EnV at 100 less, 8550 for 100 less, Voyager for 100 more, RAZR 2 for 50 more, flipshot for the same price...the list goes on and on...

8.Undecided (unregistered)

First, a comment on the review. I think too much time and effort was spent on aesthetics. That's purely a subjective thing.
I don't think the phone looks bad at all and didn't notice or pay attention to the different coloring. Yes, they don't match exactly, but I think the phone looks pretty good. As for the fake pleather on the back, it's an interesting design choice but I like the feel of it.
I haven't had the problems you mentioned with the response of the touch pad. Mine works close to flawlessly. I haven't had it respond and then not run the chosen function. I have found myself wanting to touch the top screen to directly access functions.
You don't show the scrolling function that you can do on the bottom screen, but I don't know how useful it will be.
The phone seems pretty good, but I may prefer the LG 7000 I've been using for the last 4 years with great satisfaction.
Here are my gripes:
I'm having difficulty getting used to the slider format. I find it a pain to have to hit the music key all the time to unlock the controls.
The voice command function is a great idea, but much of the time it does not recognize the stated command and choses the wrong one or it does not understand the name. My 7000 recorded my own voice and matched it and it work 95% of the time. I'm getting frustrated with this system. I'll have to read up on whether I can record my own voice for contact entries.
People I talk to on the phone tell me the sound is extremely clear, though when using bluetooth in the car at highway speeds they hear background noise. I might go back to my noise canceling wired earpiece to see if that's better. Not a fault of the phone though. I use a Motorola H500.
BUT, when I have the speaker (not speaker phone) volume all the way up on the phone, the other person's voice is distorted in such a way that it sounds like the speaker can't handle the signal (it doesn't sound like amplifier distortion to me). The speaker in the handset (the one at your ear) can't be set to full volume because of this.
I haven't tried the music function but I will.
I bought this phone because I wanted something to use primarily as a voice phone with some texting, the occasional photo and maybe for music if I don't have my iPod. I don't want VCast, TV, GPS, web surfing or any of the other things that would make the Voyager a good choice. I'd rather have the smaller phone. If I could sync my outlook on the Voyager without paying Verizon, I might go that route. As it is, I have an Audiovox 6700 PDA on another Verizon account (business) for outlook, web surfing etc...
Frankly, most of the phones available are boring. My son has had terrible problems with Motorola phones and I'll never buy one. But I do plan to go to the Verizon store before my 30 days are up to see if there's anything I might like better, but this might do.

9.KC (unregistered)

I really like the Venus. A Voyager it's not but I like it a lot more than the Chocolate. I've found the lower touch screen to be easier to use and more responsive if you turn off the vibration.
As far as the looks, I get nothing but compliments on the phone. Don't find it gaudy at all. And while I thought the pleather was a bit odd at first, it's actually very practical. The phone never slides out of my hand and stays sturdy on a surface.
The memory issue with the music is a major glitch. Why market the extra storage space if you can't use it? I have about 10 songs right now and that's all it will fit. Then again, I never intended to use this as an IPOD. So, that's not such a big deal to me.
I agree with the post that the auto lock is an annoyance. They really should have included a setting so that you could at least change the time on it. It locks after a few seconds so you are constantly either sliding the phone open or hitting the music button. Like any new phone though, I'm sure the next generation will address these design issues.
Oh and it does have navigation.

10.Alicia (unregistered)

I just bought the venus recently and love the phone. I had been researching it for some time before it was out. I've been seeing above how you can & can't change screen sensitivity. We I first got it I remembered seeing something to where I could but thought, I'll get back to it later. Well now I have no clue where to find it.
I know about the vibration levels and all but I saw something that had 3 options"...less, normal, more..." something to that effect.
Can anyone guide me as to where that screen sensivity adjustment is...?
Thanks

11. (unregistered)

Can someone please let me know how to disable the missed call alert sound. It's driving me crazy and is rather loud. I changed almost every setting I could find to "no ring" and it still alerts me when I missed a call. Please help

12.Nathan Earling (unregistered)

I have had my venus for about a month and i really like it. I can make custom rigntones on my mac and then but them straight to my phone. My previous phone Moto E815 couldn't do much with bluetooth so this phone is great. The pictures are clear but slow to load and and lag when zooming in. The speaker phone is great really loud and clear but i have a problem with the voicemail. The touch pad locks up when using speaker phone to and your voicemail. I set my voice mail # up as *86pp(my password) so that it will automatically input your password when calling. But the touch pad locks after my voice mail asks for my password and I can't hear anything. You then have to press any side button to unlock the touch pad and then you get audio again. The problem is that the audio never stops so when you unlock the phone you are in the middle of your voicemail session.

13.Yura (unregistered)

14.Stephanie. (unregistered)

ok i've had my venus for 3 weeks and it is terrible. my text randomly turns to an orange-ish gray color, it doesn't save my words, and now every time i use a space in a text it freezes, every time i add a contact it freezes, it is ridiculous!!!!

15.Jen (unregistered)

I have had my Venus (PINK!) for going on 3 months and it worked perfectly until last night. I am
having the same problem as Stephanie. The phone freezes up when i hit the space button when I text,
add a contact or add a note. I have to send one word texts to people which is driving both me and
the other people NUTS! I am off to the Verizon store tomorrow to see what can be done about this.
It is rediculous. And annoying as can be! My phone is pretty much useless now. man oh man!

18.AmyGallagher02 (unregistered)

I am having the same problem as Jen. What did the Verizon store say? I went to the local one here and he says he hasnt a clue why its doin it. He says he can send off for me to get a new one, but why would I want a new one that will do the same thing as the other one?

16.Aileara (unregistered)

I've only had the Venus a few days. Would appreciate some help if anyone else has this going on. On incoming and outgoing calls the phone announces the service provider over the speaker before placing or receiving a call. I've tried everything but can't get it to stop; no idea if I'm even able to turn it off or if I'm stuck with it.

17.flip (unregistered)

19.droptop613 (unregistered)

The cheap leather like back you talked about it great. It was designed so the phone would stay in your hand, not slide out of it and drop to the ground. The volume suck's and it's not just my phone. My girlfriend has the same phone and has the same problem.

20.yankeegirl82 (unregistered)

Anyone know how to lock the phone so that when you set it down it locks? I've seen how to lock it upon startup but want it locked whenever I'm not using it (and the screen has gone black) to keep others from using it. Any suggestions??

21. (unregistered)

I just got the Pink Venus just 4 days ago and I have to send it back already! I love the phone and I am so disappointed! I read the reviews and it doesn't sound as if anyone has had this problem, but I have no sound when I make or receive a call. The phone rings and I can hear my ringtones and stuff but when I answer or try to place a call, there is nothing. And here is the most bizarre thing, when you are on a call and unlock the phone, on the face of the phone, the middle circle is the "Speaker", the oddest thing is that this button has completely disappeared! When I tried to call and thought it was my headset, I tried to hit speaker and it was gone! Now the phone did drop, however, it slid off of my bed onto the carpeted floor, it wasn't like it fell hard on the pavement. I have no idea, Verizon said I may have gotten a bad phone but I am too scared to get another and go through this again. I may get the new Chocolate 3 as it is a clamshell and I feel will be better protected. Very disappointed, it is a sharp phone!

22. (unregistered)

23.Miley (unregistered)

i want to get the pink Venus but I'm not sure if i want to. Some people say the phone is great when others say its not. Please help me decide if this is the right phone for me or if i should look for a different phone. If anyone has any ideas of other phones that slide and are black, pink or both please help.

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